


Vernal Equinox

by mousecat



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Asahi is a nymph y'all, M/M, soft floral au, whatever kinda au that is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 17:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10392594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousecat/pseuds/mousecat
Summary: Spring comes, and Noya takes naps in a meadow. He wakes up with flowers and falls in love a little bit more each day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey look I've written something on my own.
> 
> A million thanks to the loveliest soft tol nymph (after Asahi) [Bees](http://archiveofourown.org/users/notallbees/pseuds/notallballs) for encouraging me and looking this over for me *puts flower crown on her head*
> 
> (〃ノ‿•̀〃)⊃━✿✿✿✿✿✿ (◕‿◕✿)

When Noya finished his morning chores he decided to take a walk through the woods. It was the first day this year there was no chill to the air, just clear sunlight and a gentle breeze. Spring was fast approaching, and it felt good to finally be outdoors. 

Noya wandered among the trees, following no real path, fingertips lightly brushing rough bark. He took deep lungfuls of air through his nose, trying to pick up a distinct scent. His mum always said spring smelled new. Or you could smell the newness on the air? Something. Noya wasn’t quite sure how new smelled, but he liked the leaves delicately unfurling on their branches, just out of his reach.

Noya stopped for a moment to stretch up on his tiptoes, desperately reaching for a leaf, not to pluck but to touch. No luck, but he laughed anyway. He almost skipped through the trees, jumping occasionally and whooping every time he thought he might have touched a bud. 

This was how Noya ended up in a clearing some time later, sprawled in the grass and sweet smelling flowers. His heart pounded against his ribs, he tried to catch his breath, and he felt a cool sheen of sweat drying on his skin. These were all Springtime Feelings, the bright hot lively feelings that only came when winter had melted away. His favorite feelings.

Noya was hit so suddenly with excitement at the changing season, his heart stuttered and he tipped his head back to roar into the blue sky. Words didn’t come to his mouth fast enough, not real ones anyway, so he shouted gibberish until the impulse faded. 

He lifted his arms toward the sky and dropped them again, laughing at nothing really. He simply couldn’t contain his joy that the world was new again. Now that he'd sat in the soft grass and let the sunlight warm him for a few moments, he began to get drowsy. After a moment he rolled onto his side, relaxing in the warmth, surrounded by the gentle sounds of the woods around him. 

 

He blinked slowly, letting his sluggish senses untangle. It was a little cooler, the light a little dimmer than when he first closed his eyes. Time had passed. His body had a pleasant ache from a sound sleep. 

Noya’s muscles tensed suddenly, and he reached his arms up for slow stretch, his fists clenching. He felt so well rested, even better than he had that morning. 

When he brought his fists to his eyes to rub them, something soft brushed his left cheek. He jumped a little at the unexpected sensation and looked at his curled fingers. He was gripping a little bunch of orange flowers. 

It took several long seconds for his brain to catch up, and he realized these flowers were familiar. He recognized them from his visits to his gran at her little cottage on the cliffs. He used to visit every spring as a boy, but it had been several years since all that. 

Wallflowers, he remembered his gran calling them. He looked around a bit hazily, trying to see where they had come from. There weren't any in the field. Had his gran stuck them in his hand as a surprise? No, no, she hadn't been planning a visit. He would know; his gran couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Plus, her knees were bad. She mentioned it in every letter she wrote to the family. She certainly couldn't have snuck behind him through the forest. Or anticipated he'd take a nap. 

He gazed down at the mysterious orange flowers he was still gripping in his left hand. His palm was starting to feel a little damp from sweat, so he stood and patted at his clothing while he tried to decide where to put the flowers. He wanted to keep them. They felt like a kind of gift. 

They’d be crushed in his pocket, however. Carefully, maybe more carefully than Noya had ever done anything before, he tucked the stems into the waist of his trousers. He took one last glance around the clearing, seeing nothing out of place among the trees, and turned to head back home, more lighthearted than he’d been all day.

 

✿✿✿✿✿✿

 

The next day was almost as nice as the one before. Though the sky wasn't quite as clear or the air as warm, it was still a fine day. Noya wasn't one to let anything bother him; the wallflowers from the day before still lingered on his mind, but pleasantly.

They were enough of a curiosity that Noya decided to take another walk through the woods and into the clearing. He was a little weary, having woken up well before the sunrise that morning. Not that he'd ever complain. He was an early riser anyway, and seeing the sun rise over the trees, watching the sky shift colors, was always a joy. 

But that was why Noya dropped right into the grass the moment he reached the clearing. If nothing else, he hoped another nap among the flowers would make him feel as refreshed as yesterday. 

Eyes already closed, Noya took a few minutes to shift, finding the most comfortable position on the ground before settling. 

 

Noya felt like he'd barely blinked and he was awake. He rolled his head from side to side and stretched his back in an effort to bring his body back to full awareness. 

In his fist was a fat bunch of wildflowers, practically a bouquet. These ones _were_ from the field, clusters of bluebells and a kind he couldn’t name, starry white ones with a rosette of yellow anthers. Noya looked carefully around the ground to see if he'd pulled them up when he was sleeping. 

There were no bare patches or broken stems near him that he could see. He inspected the flowers in his hand. The stems were even, no roots had been pulled up with them, and he hadn't crushed any buds in his fist. It didn't seem very likely he’d pulled them from the ground himself. 

As he stood up and brought the flowers to his face, he inhaled. Their sweet scent made him smile. 

“Thank you,” Noya called, though he didn't see anyone around. The same giddy sense of joy he’d felt yesterday burst from his chest then, and he yelled out his gratitude again. He drew out the syllables enough to use all his breath, “THAAAAAANK YOOOOOOOOU!” 

The cry startled some birds from the trees around him into flight, but no one appeared. No one called back to him.

Still, his grin spread so wide his cheeks ached as he ran back home.

 

✿✿✿✿✿✿

 

Noya looked up at the gray clouds rolling overhead. The sky had been red when he woke up that morning, and Auntie had always said that was a clear sign of a storm to come.

He glanced from the sky to the woods and back again, If he hadn’t already been smiling, he would’ve then. But the truth was, he couldn’t seem to stop. Not since yesterday. He was almost certain he hadn’t even stopped smiling as he slept. It must’ve looked really creepy.

Noya could beat the storm. And if he couldn’t, a little rain never killed anyone.

Almost before that thought had fully formed in his mind, he broke into a sprint towards the woods, like he was already trying to outrun the heavy clouds above him. The trees and their arching roots didn’t slow his pace. Noya deftly wove and leapt until the clearing came into view, and a second of distraction made his foot catch a root so he tumbled into the open space.

His momentum hadn’t carried him quite far enough for his liking, so he rolled a few more times into the clearing. He stretched his right leg up to see his trousers had torn to reveal a dirty, scraped knee. His mum wouldn’t be happy about the tear at all, even if Noya was the one who would end up patching it. The elbow that caught his fall ached, but at least his sleeve was intact. 

Six, Noya decided. He’d have six new bruises. He didn’t mind a bit.

The dull pain from his fall didn’t stop Noya’s eyes drifting shut or his body relaxing against the now-familiar bed of grass. He was such an easy sleeper. He didn’t have worries that swirled in his mind, not even the imminent rain. He’d wake before he got too wet, and the trees would surely offer some protection during his walk home...

 

When Noya woke he was curled on his side with his head resting comfortably on his arm, but the light was strangely dim and the air stuffy. He registered the gentle sound of spring rainfall over him and realized his head was covered. 

Sitting up made the covering slip to the side, but Noya caught it against his shoulder before it could fall to the ground. It was some kind of lumpy grass weaving, and Noya had to stare at it hard before he could make sense of it. 

It was a _hat_. Well, probably. The misshapen bit in the middle was shallow but would definitely fit Noya’s head, and the brim was unfinished, fresh green grass fraying all around the edge. It was the type of hat much better suited to shielding against sun than rain, but the weaving was tight enough to hold up in a spring shower in a pinch. And it had done the job - Noya’s face had been dry when he woke up. Now however, his hair was damp and flat against his skull. 

Noya didn't care about that. He marveled at the odd grass hat. It had to have been hastily made while he slept, but the maker had taken the time to weave flower stems into the brim, making it a field of little pink flowers. Someone had made this for him with their own hands, carefully placing dozens of little buds while they worked, to protect him from the rain. 

Noya decided the flowers’ deeply cleft pink petals looked like funny little hearts. He pressed the gift to his chest and turned his face up to the sky, sticking out his tongue to catch raindrops. He knew he'd be soaked through if he didn't start home soon, light though the storm was. 

He suddenly realized how ungrateful he must look, letting himself get wet after someone had gone to so much trouble for him. “I don't mind the rain so much now I'm awake,” he shouted to no one, just in case. In the responding silence, Noya let the impulse to fill his lungs and bellow out his gratitude even louder than yesterday. 

With that he jumped up, hoping his secretive new friend had heard him, wherever they were. He hoped they saw him put on the hat and knew he wore it all the way home. 

 

✿✿✿✿✿✿

 

The previous night, Noya had had the most brilliant, ingenious, foolproof idea in the few short moments between his head hitting the pillow and falling asleep. It had struck with such lightning clarity he was sure he would remember in the morning, and he did.

He worked with extra enthusiasm that morning but tragically little focus. The puffy white clouds drifting overhead kept pulling him from his work. If he squinted right, some of them looked like fluffy flowers. A lot of them also looked like the sheep he saw too, although the clouds were far cleaner.

Noya made himself enough of a nuisance that Saeko threatened to send him away for the day without his coins, but Noya didn't take it to heart. He knew Saeko's head still pounded from her festivities the night before, and his exclamations of, "That one looks like a small sheep or a large lamb!" and "That one is a ram with his horns on backward!" and "Look, another sheep!" likely didn't improve it. He convinced Saeko to lay down beneath the wagon with a broken wheel to rest while he finished up, driving a few more fat ewes to the catching pen and attempting to do Saeko's work for her. Noya couldn't shear them quite as neatly, and he hoped he only imagined the sheep glaring at him for leaving them with funny tufts of wool. But the uneven shearing gave them character, or he hoped anyway.

Noya's mood only improved as the morning wore on, and when the sun was high in sky, he woke Saeko as gently as he was able, ate hastily, and took off to the woods once again. He ran over the plan in his head again. It took approximately four seconds because it was a deceptively simple plan.

Noya would go to the meadow, as usual, and lay down, as usual. This time however, he would not fall asleep. He would close his eyes and keep quite still until his mysterious gift giver approached him. Then all that was left was for Noya to reveal he was awake and start a friendly conversation.

Nothing to it. 

In the meadow Noya got comfortable and considered what he might say. Ask them if they lived here in the woods? That seemed silly, but they'd been nearby the last three days. It may be too forward for an opening question though. Perhaps he should ask where they got the got the wallflowers from the first day. No wait, Noya had to start by thanking them, of course. That was the polite thing to do.

 

Noya woke as suddenly as he'd fallen asleep. He sat up with a start and glanced around. He couldn't believe he'd let himself drift off. He hadn't even been tired when he laid down. Looking to the sky, he determined almost two hours had passed. 

With a sinking feeling, he realized his hands were empty and glanced around himself. He was surrounded by the usual grass and wildflowers. He didn't see anything that might have been left for him. 

Noya didn't let the disappointment overwhelm him, however. Perhaps they hadn't come yet and he hadn't missed his opportunity. He settled back with that cheerful thought and closed his eyes to feign sleep again. 

The difficulty was though, laying still and pretending sleep was incredibly dull. It was several minutes before Noya realized he was giving himself away by bouncing his leg. He locked his legs straight and watched the blue sky overhead until he remembered he had to keep his eyes shut.

Noya rolled over onto his stomach, the position uncomfortable enough to keep him alert but without the temptation to look around, since there wouldn't be much to see. It didn't stop him fidgeting; Noya caught himself drumming his fingers in the dirt after a few agonizingly long minutes. 

Noya pushed off the ground with a huff. After a final check that he hadn't missed his gift he started home. 

Maybe it was only ever meant to happen for three days. That's usually how it worked in the folk tales his mum told Noya and his sister. Things came in threes. He could live with that.  
But maybe...maybe they had realized Noya was trying to catch them and it upset them. Maybe it scared them away. Maybe Noya ruined it. 

It made sense. Why else would they have stopped? Yesterday they had shown him such care, keeping him dry in the rain. Today, nothing. 

This sort of sick, awful feeling wasn't something Noya was used to at all. He tried to name it. Disappointment, he thought, or regret. Most likely it was both feelings mixed together. He should have left it alone and simply been pleased it was happening. Maybe his gift giver thought he was being greedy or, or...he didn't know. He hadn't thought of it like that though, before. He had only wanted to meet whoever had been so thoughtful towards him. 

Noya knew he must've looked pathetic when he entered his family’s cottage, so when his mother turned from the fire and catching sight of him, laughed, it stung. But only for a moment. 

“Yuu! What did you get into?” she asked. 

Noya opened his mouth, unsure how to respond. She smirked and look knowingly at him. 

“Have you found yourself a sweetheart?” she pressed. 

“A sweetheart?” Before Noya could work out what his mum was talking about, she strode over to him and plucked something from his hair to examine. 

“Crowfoot, I think,” she said. She held the little white flower up. It had a sunny yellow center. “How long did it take to twist all those up in your hair?”

“I haven't seen it yet. Could I use your glass?” Noya didn't mean to ignore her question, but he had to see. He followed her to her room and gazed into the little glass she held up for him. 

There were a couple dozen of the flowers resting in his hair. It was a mystery to him how they were staying so neat, even if his hair had been twisted around the stems as his mum suggested. 

Noya’s heart soared. “I have a sweetheart,” he said to himself as much as his mum. 

He caught her eye and they both started to giggle. She set aside the glass, still pinching in her fingers the flower she'd pulled from his hair. She put it behind her ear. 

“You'll help me finish the stew, come along. Your sister will be back within the hour.” She wrapped her fingers around his and led him back to the front room. 

 

✿✿✿✿✿✿

 

On the fifth day, Saeko really did send him off early. “Mama told us you have a someone” she said with a sly smile.

Noya frowned for a moment. He didn’t mind Auntie knowing at all, but he couldn’t imagine when his mum had found the chance to tell her between his return in the afternoon and now. Noya was pulled back to reality when Saeko affectionately ruffled his hair.

“Go swoon somewhere else, okay?” 

“Nee-san, I can’t leave you to work all by yourself,” Noya said.

Saeko laughed and crushed him in a hug. “You’re thoughtful, but you made a mess of the sheep yesterday. The ones you tried to shear are embarrassed,” she told him. “Uru won’t even come out of hiding.”

“I just need practice!” Noya said. He squeezed her until she shoved him with a playful smack on the shoulder.

“Not today, little lovebird. Get out of here.” She gave him a coin and shooed him away.

Noya turned to woods once again. He couldn’t help it; it was the only place he wanted to be, at least until he knew. He had recommitted to his plan, and the early start and morning free of labor would only help him stay awake.

Today Noya sat in the meadow for a while, sunning himself and whistling pleasantly. He kept an eye out, but no one approached him. Some birds sang and flitted through the trees, but nothing else.

Eventually he laid down with his hands behind his head. He let his thoughts drift and whenever they became a bit distorted, pulling him closer to a doze, he forced himself back to the present. 

It was easy to lose track of time like that, chopping carrots while Rei counted eggs. She asked him if he’d been pestering Kiyoko again when a bird squawked, and Noya remembered he wasn’t home but in the meadow.

And there was someone sitting beside him.

Noya opened his eyes to see a man with broad shoulders half turned away from him. _Bare_ broad shoulders, except for the long brown hair that fell across them. Little blue flowers Noya didn’t think he’d ever seen before had been braided into the man’s hair. Five blue petals with a white center carefully threaded into each thin braid, each braid surrounded by soft brown hair. At least it looked soft. Noya looked down his naked back to his naked...everything else. 

_Oh._ Not a man, he realized. He saw the nymph was carefully knotting buttercup stems together. Noya almost felt like he woke up again.

“What’s your name?” he asked as he propped himself up on his elbows. It wasn’t a question that had occurred to him before now, but it seemed like the most urgent as he looked at the nymph sat beside him.

The nymph turned, brown eyes wide with shock. Before Noya could say or do anything else, the nymph leapt up, buttercups scattering around him, and sprinted toward the trees. Noya scrambled after him with almost no hesitation, and ran into the woods only seconds after the nymph.

Noya made it a few paces in before halting. There was no one. He turned around several times, but the nymph was gone, somehow. Perhaps hiding amongst the trees. He wove between calling after the creature, keeping near the meadow. He softened his voice when we realized shouting wouldn’t help, even if the shouting was more desperate than angry.

An hour later, Noya gathered up the buttercups and carefully folded the half finished chain among the individual flowers. He doesn't waste another glance to the trees behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Second part next Monday, k?
> 
> Edit: between work and health...Monday is cancelled temporarily, but tol cute nymph boys are in all our futures.


End file.
